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2011 Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, Bordeaux

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
  • Merlot
Ready, but will improve
Robert Parker
91/100
19/20
James Molesworth
93-96/100
Robert Parker
94-96/100
Product: 20111016082
2011 Vieux Château Certan, Pomerol, Bordeaux

Description

What a nose. Supple and elegant with extraordinary perfume, plum, violets and raspberry fruit come through with wonderful floral lift. The palate is liquid velvet. A sweet, sappy front, followed by a focused darker core of plump, rounded fruit. There is a cashmere like texture that builds up in waves and the freshness of the vintage again works perfectly with the clean precise finish that just stays with you for minutes. I am not sure that there is a better wine in 2011.
Hong Kong Fine Wine Team
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2011
Alcohol % 13.5
Maturity Ready, but will improve
Grape List Merlot
Body Full Bodied
Producer Vieux Château Certan

Critics reviews

Robert Parker 91/100
The dense ruby/purple-tinged 2011 Vieux Chateau Certan offers a beautiful bouquet of plums, black cherries, cassis and hints of graphite as well as spice, an excellent texture and medium body. A success in this difficult vintage, it should age easily for 10-15 years. Yet after the trilogy of great wines in 2008, 2009 and 2010, few consumers are likely to pay much attention to this 2011.Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30/04/2014
Robert Parker, RobertParker.com (Apr 2014)
19/20
The 'grand retour' of Cabernet Franc with 29% in the blend. Less opulence than 2009 and 2010 but this is a wine that really sings. It has a vital, floral, dark fruit nose, a silky texture and tannins. Succulent, fresh and long. A classic VCC. The Right Bank wine of the vintage.
Decanter.com
James Molesworth 93-96/100
This has a dark ganache and loamy profile that belies the vintage's lighter, fresher profile, and the wine cuts a broad swath but stays well-defined, with dense tobacco and fig on the finish. An impressive effort and an early challenger for one of the wines of the vintage. Wine Spectator's 2011 Top-Scoring Red Bordeaux james_molesworth, Wine Spectator, April 5, 2012
James Molesworth, WineSpectator.com (Apr 2012)
Robert Parker 94-96/100
Made in a big, bold style with 13.6% natural alcohol, it reveals a stunning perfume of graphite, mulberries, black currants, kirsch, licorice and forest floor. This full-bodied, dense Pomerol transcends the overall vintage character. Thienpont compared the style of the 2011 with their 2000, but with more density to its core because of the extremely low yields. Only 60% of the crop made it into this cuvee. It will need 5-8 years of cellaring, and should still be intact and drinking beautifully at age 30. A candidate for the top wine of Pomerol, Alexandre Thienpont calls the 2011 a return to the more classic style of Vieux Chateau Certan after the exotic, over-the-top 2009 and 2010. A blend of 70% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Franc (the highest in a number of years) and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2011 was harvested between September 7-20. robert_parker - Wine Advocate - April 2012
Robert Parker, RobertParker.com (Apr 2012)

About this wine

Merlot

The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
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Vieux Chateau Certan

The Vieux Château Certan estate, which in 1745 already figured on Bellayme's famous map under the name of  "Sertan", is located in the heart of the Pomerol plateau. Covering 14 hectares (35 acres) in one single block, the Vieux Château Certan vineyard is the fruit of a century of painstaking work and careful decision-making. The estate vineyard is today made up of 65% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon.This varietal mix enables the best possible balance to be sought in each vintage between the Merlot and the Cabernet Franc. The latter performs exceptionally well in this terroir and reaches perfect ripness levels. The grapes are picked by hand and sorted meticulously at the end of each row of wines. After a gentle crushing they are put into oak vats, by variety. Those vats destined to make up the blend of the Grand Vin are run off into 100 % new French oak barrels and aged for 18 to 22 months. Vieux Château Certan is regularly ranked by the world's press and international tasting panels among the very top wines.
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